- Introduction — La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) musical quotation
- Verse music — “Love, love, love...”
- Verse 1 — “Nothing you can do that can’t be done…”
- Verse 2 — “Nothing you can make that can’t be made…”
- Chorus — “All you need is love.”
- Guitar Solo — same time signatures as the verses
- Chorus — “All you need is love.”
- Verse 3 — “Nothing you can know that can’t be known…”
- Chorus — “All you need is love.”
- Chorus — “All you need is love.”
- Fade-out musical quotations
- Bach Invention in F major (Trumpets, Baroque Period)
- In the Mood (Saxophones, Big Band Era)
- Yesterday (Voice, Just 1 Word!)
- Greensleeves (Strings, Old English Folk Song)
- She Loves You (Voice, An Earlier Beatles Hit)
Verses and Guitar Solo Time Signatures
(12/8 and 9/8 may replace 4/4 and 3/4.)
OR
Choruses (12/8 and 6/8 may replace 4/4 and 2/4.)
OR
Analytical Comments
- The Beatles make mixed meters sound natural and seamless. “It's easy.”
- Following the introduction entirely in common time, the first measure in 3/4 sounds irregular. However, after alternating between bars of 4 and 3, the 6th bar of the verse (4/4) begins to sound out of place!
- The verses are more metrically complex than the choruses. This gives the entire song periods of tension followed by release.
- All You Need Is Love was composed for the first live global television link. The eclectic selection of musical quotations seems apt for a worldwide audience.
I use the term Chorus rather than Refrain because according to The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis,
- Verse: the same music reappears later in the song with different text(s).
- Chorus: the same music reappears later in the song with same text.
- Refrain: one- or two-line text at the end of the verse that reappears with same music.